The Common Cold
by empole0n
Summary: The common cold is common to the Croods for being a cause of death. After all, that's what had taken one of their neighbours. Guy knows how to deal with sickness, as he has encountered it countless times, but will the Croods trust him?


A sneeze.

One sneeze was all it took for the Croods to go into a frenzy of panic.

Even Eep was hesitant for she had seen first hand how a cold could affect someone.

The only way she had seen it end was in death.

Grug grabbed Eep, scooping her up underneath her stomach and flinging her over his shoulder. The rest of the Croods had backed away substantially. Eep was the only one who was conflicted on whether to stay or back off.

"Dad, no!" Eep shouted.

Guy just stood there wiping his nose on a leaf. Belt was clinging to him, acting as an actual belt, which he rarely did anymore.

"I may be contagious." Guy admitted.

"Big words…" Grug muttered, glaring down Guy as he held on to Eep.

"You guys could possibly get it," Everyone gasped even Eep. She was scared, not just for her health, but for Guy's. "_BUT_, I have encountered sickness before. This really isn't a big deal. I know how to deal with it and how to heal. But it would be easier if I had help. Now that I have a family…" He trailed off a bit nervously.

"Dad, we need to-" Eep began, but Grug quickly cut her off, "I can't lose any of you ever. You saw what happened to our neighbors." He reminded her.

"But Dad things aren't like that anymore!" She shouted.

"The answer is no, Eep." His attention returned to Guy, "When you get healthy, we will come back, but for now I think it's best if we keep our distance."

Grug continued to carry Eep as she struggled in her grasp, turning around trying to see Guy. He said nothing only nodded in response to Grug's request. He watched as his family, the only one he had known and loved since his own walked away. Eep reached out for him, they were too far apart at this point, but Guy reached out as well, and offered a weak smile.

"No Dad, stop! You can't do this!" She groaned in frustration, as her father carried her over his shoulder.

Ugga backed away with Thunk and offered sympathetic smile to Guy. "I'm so sorry."

Guy rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, "It's okay. Grug is just being a good father. I hope if I am ever a father one day, I'll be at least half as good as he is." He admitted, turning around to go find shelter with Belt. Belt climbed up and sat on his shoulder holding on to him. Trying to comfort Guy, as he was on his own once again.

The bonfire wasn't the same. Dinner wasn't the same. Story time wasn't the same. Bedtime wasn't the same. Curling up on her side, she turned away from her family, not being able to look at them. How could they be so cruel? Guy was apart of their _family_. He was apart of _her_.

She could see in the distance his bonfire, much like the first time they had met.

Everyone was asleep, but she wasn't. How could she possibly? Guy. Her Guy. Wasn't with them. Inhaling deeply, she got up as quietly as she could and followed the light.

The light of his bonfire.

The closer she got, the more sniffles she could hear, and grunts. He must have been really sick. That worried her. It worried her she might get sick and have to stay away from her family and be an outcast. How was she possibly supposed to choose between her family and Guy?

_Maybe I won't have to,_ she thought as an idea hit her.

Eep quickly tip toed away from where he was situated on the cold ground. She ran over to where her mother kept their animal skins, which was buried inside the trunk of a tree. She began to carve out pieces to cover her hands, and her mouth. Maybe she should just cover her entire body… She wrapped them around her and went to go see Guy. Clad in leopard skin all around her body, she was not a tiger, but a _leopard._

She crawled over to Guy and he let out a shriek at seeing her. Running over to him she covered his mouth with her hand. "Keep it down! My parents will kill me!" She hissed.

"Eep?" Guy choked out. "Why are you dressed like that?" He sniffled.

"So I don't get sick, but I still wanted to see you." Eep admitted, taking a seat beside him.

"I am not going to die, just so you and your family knows. Especially your father." He explained. He reached beside him and picked up the few small leaves he had gathered and put them in a hollowed out coconut that was filled with water.

"What are those leaves for? And that coconut?" She asked suddenly, not even hearing his comment.

"They help with the sickness." He said. "I heat it up," He held it over the fire so it could warm up. "Then I sip it." He sipped the water and exhaled. "Tastes refreshing, I feel like I can finally breathe." He laughed.

"That's good. How long will you be sick for?" She asked, meeting his eyes.

"I think it's only for a day or two. I usually don't stay sick long." He said simply. "You should probably go back to your family, what if they ban you to stay out here with me and away from them? I can't ask you to go through that." He said softly.

"I'll just stay for a little while and go back before anyone wakes up." She said simply.

He shook his head and began to laugh, looking at the bonfire before him as he crossed his legs.

"What are you laughing at?" She asked.

"Just at what you're wearing." He smirked.

"It's no worse than what you were wearing when we first met." She teased.

"Fine, fine, fine." He said putting his hands up in defense. "You have a point there, I'll admit." Guy said with a chuckle.

Eep leaned her head against his shoulder, "You aren't going to die are you?" She asked.

Smirking, he decided not to mention the part where he had already answered her question. "I promise you I will not die. Where's the fun in that? I have so much to live for, and you and I still have so much stuff to see and do."

Eep smiled at that, it made her feel better. "Yeah? Like what?"

Both of them were happy and at ease being together. Guy wrapped an arm around her and turned slightly so he could look down at her. She felt him move and just smiled, glad to be in his company. The tension and fear of not being able to see him anymore had faded.

Guy took the leopard skin that was covering her mouth down and removed it from her face.

She smiled lightly at him. Him being sick was forgotten, her anxiety of possibly getting sick was long forgotten.

"…Like this." Guy said leaning down to rub his nose against her cheek. Inhaling her smell of cedar and ashes. The leopard had a musky smell that was beginning to mask her own scent. Then he remembered why he was out here, and why she was covered in the leopard skin.

Eep's eyes widened as he drew back from her, scooting over so there was space between them. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the fire between them. Fire was nice. Fire was _light._ Light always made her feel better.

"If you get sick…" Guy began.

Eep interrupted him, "I will get better like you are." She finished. Eep tried to stifle a yawn, but it came out anyways. "You should probably head back to the rest of the family." He said.

Eep shook her head as she began to get comfortable on the ground. "I will in a later." Closing her eyes, that _later_ never came.

She woke up to the sound of smashing, rocks, bark, everything and anything was being broken it sounded like. Guy was running around and ducking. He sniffled ever so often and Eep frowned, then she saw who was the offending party- her father.

"Dad, stop!" She shouted taking a step forward. The Croods all hesitated on whether to take a step back from her or to come closer. She was their daughter.

But Guy had become family- he was their son.

"Eep, how, when, _why_ would you do this?" He asked, he was at a loss for words. His daughter, his baby girl- why would she submit herself to the possibility of being exposed to sickness? To death?

"Dad, Guy is going to get better! I just wanted to be there for him! Maybe all the other times he was sick it was harder because he was alone. He has his family with him now, and we need to be there for him." Eep clarified, grabbing Guy by his shoulder for emphasis. She did this a little too hard, and he winced but only for a moment. He was getting used to her strength.

Guy offered a small smile, he didn't like getting too confrontational with Grug, but had grown bolder the more time they had spent together and he had bonded with the family. "I promise you, Eep will be okay. Even if she gets sick she _will _heal."

Grug muttered, "She better heal, she's my daughter."

"And he's your son." Eep said.

Thunk knitted his eyebrows together, "What? I'm his son!" He said in confusion.

Ugga smiled, "Guy is Grug's other son. She's right, Grug. We need to help each other. We are _all_ family here."

The rest of the family stepped towards Guy and Eep, though the steps were slow and cautious, Eep smiled and Guy did too.

Grug was the last to walk over but when he looked up at Guy a hint of a smile touched his lips. "Alright Guy, what can we do to help?"

* * *

**A/N: This was a story request from Dueling Southerner. I really, really, really hoped you enjoyed it. **

**Thanks so much for all the favourites, reviews, follows everyone. I really do appreciate your support and I can't thank you enough.**

**This story might have a few grammar/spelling mistakes because I only looked over it once, but I will fix it up ASAP. **


End file.
